Natural hazards · Adams

Adams, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Adams comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1993. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Adams?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Adams to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves36%Inland flooding32%Tornadoes12%Hail9%Strong wind5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Adams faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 17 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Adams flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Adams, from FEMA’s records.

1paid claims since 1993

$3Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19932026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Adams isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Adams County.

Disasters that hit Adams

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Adams itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Adams.

Brought FEMA money into AdamsDeclared for Adams County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

62 households applied for aid $41K aid approved

2001

Flooding, Severe Storms and Tornadoes

$3K to the City of Adams for repairs

Adams County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Adams is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Adams’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Adams. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.